Irish overseas aid fell by 5.8% last year

Ireland joined Greece, Spain and Italy in reducing its overseas development aid budget in 2012, cutting its spend by 5.8 per cent on the back of fiscal constraints.

Unsurprisingly, the largest cuts in aid were recorded in the countries most affected by the euro zone crisis, according to data compiled by the OECD. However, Ireland managed to reduce its budget by considerably less than its beleaguered peers.

Spain for example, cut its overseas aid budget by an “unprecedented” 50 per cent in 2012, while Italy slashed its budget by 35 per cent, due to lower levels of aid to refugees arriving from North Africa and reduced debt relief grants compared to 2011. Greece reported a 17 per cent decrease in its budget, due to “austerity measures”.

Overall, donations fell in 15 countries, leading to a 4 per cent decrease in development aid in 2012, down to $125.7 billion (€97.9 billion) representing 0.29 per cent of combined gross national income (GNI). This follows a 2 per cent fall in 2011, as the ongoing financial crisis saw governments continue to tighten their budgets. Aid has fallen by 6 per cent since its peak in 2010, and the decline in 2012 is the largest since 1997. It is also the first time since 1996-97 that aid has fallen in two successive years.

However, some countries maintained or increased their aid budgets in order to reach the targets they had set.

Largest donors
The largest donors, by volume, were the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Japan, while Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden continued to exceed the United Nations' ODA target of 0.7 per cent of GNI.

Australia reported a 9.1 per cent increase in its budget, in order to meet its international commitments to scale up aid in order to reach its target of 0.5 per cent of GNI by 2016-2017.

“I take heart from the fact that, in spite of the crisis, nine countries still managed to increase their aid,” said Angel Gurría, OECD secretary general.

Looking ahead, the OECD expects a “moderate recovery” in aid levels this year.